Empire & Industry

Gothic Revival & The Eglinton Tournament

Eglinton Tournament Statuette

Description:

In July 2014 East Ayrshire Leisure Trust, on behalf of East
Ayrshire Council, acquired one of the most important remaining
artefacts relating to the Eglinton Tournament of 1839 - a
silver-gilt statuette of the 13th Earl of Eglinton and
his horse in their full Tournament armour.

A funding package was secured by a group including East Ayrshire
Leisure, The National Fund for Acquisitions, The Art Fund, The
Barcapel Foundation and the Kyle and Carrick Civic Society after
the owner had indicated that the statue may be sold to the U.S.

The statuette, measuring 44cm, is all that remains of the
'Glasgow Eglinton Memorial', a decorative candelabrum which was
given to the 13thEarl by 300 citizens of Glasgow in
appreciation of his efforts to put on the event. It is believed
that the rest of the candelabrum was melted down sometime after it
was sold from the estate in 1922, but that the statue was saved. It
is beautifully and intricately modelled and was produced by
silversmiths in Glasgow and London.

The statuette contains a number of interesting and noteworthy
features.

It can be most closely compared to the magnificent Eglinton
Trophy, which was considered to be the most important piece of
silverware in Scotland at the time of its presentation in 1843. The
Eglinton Trophy was given to the 13th Earl by his
friends and admirers in thanks of his efforts in staging the
Tournament. It was designed by Edmund Cotterill, of R&S
Garrards of London, and took 4 years to complete.

However, the statuette here is hallmarked for 1840, 3 years
earlier, and was produced by Benjamin Smith III of London,
apparently in partnership with D.C Rait of Glasgow.

Smith's statuette has some clear differences to Cotterill's.
Both clearly show the Eglinton coat of arms of the horse's rear
flank, but above the forelegs Cotterill's wyvern faces forwards,
whilst Smith's faces to the rear. On Cotterill's helmet is a
well-modelled, seated, winged wyvern, and on Smith's a grotesque
head with none of the body. However, Smith's lance is clearly an
accurate model of a grooved design which was used at the
Tournament,
whilst Cotterill's is smooth and more robust.

The most accurate images of the Tournament are considered to be
the watercolours by Nixon, and Cotterill's modelling is very close
to these images. Whilst Nixon drew these first-hand they were not
published until 1843, but as the committee that commissioned the
Trophy included the Marquess of Londonderry, it is entirely
possible Cotterill had access to these works to get the detail he
needed. Given the speed with which Smith's model was produced
(within a year), it may be that he was using other, less accurate,
sources.

The statue, and a selection of watercolours and shields, will be
on public display at the Dick Institute (South Museum) from
Thursday 28th August (Tue - Sat 11am - 5pm) to
commemorate the 175th Anniversary of the Eglinton
Tournament.